Questions about coffee ground composting

[ndorfinmachine]

I may be able to get a large quantity of grounds and I don't have a lot of brown items to mix with them. Could I simply compost the grounds with shredded paper? And if you can use paper, is it safe to use paper with ink if it's gonna be used for vegetables? The papers I have available would be, toilet paper tubes, junk mail papers, and of course newspaper. Any info on this would be helpful. Thanks.

[smokensqueal]

You may need a LOT of paper to compost just paper and coffee grounds because of how wet the ground usually are. But to answer your questions. Yes you can use just paper. And Yes you can use paper with ink on it. Note though some people don't like using junk mail because they are unsure of where it was printed and with what. Newspaper is usually okay by everyone because chances are high that it was printed with soy ink. Toilet paper tubes are great! Don't for get other cardboard products like paper towels and the paper towels themselves. But good news for you is that since coffee grounds really don't stink if you end up short on the paper you just may have a compost pile that smells like coffee.

Question for you. With it being fall don't you have access to leaves? I know where I'm at I'm actually waiting for the leaves to turn so I can use them. It seems like it's taking them forever this year. I guess it's like watching a pot of water boil.

[ndorfinmachine]

Thanks for answering my question. I think I will stick with newspaper just to be on the safe side. As far as leaves, none yet. This far south we don't really have the beautiful explosion of colors with the leaves changing. I'd have to drive to north ga to witness that. My only problem gathering leaves on my property is the fact that the majority of trees are oaks and pine, and all of those are in very wooded areas. It's really hard to rake them up for all the twigs and debris. The only trees in my yard are a couple of cedars. One of my neighbors has pecan trees in their yard. Suppose I could use those? I had also posted about using peanut leaves in another thread but no one has replied to that one yet.

[cynthia_h]

Wow! Pecan leaves! Yes, do use them. The leaves of fruit and nut trees (except walnut) are terrific for composting.

If the leaves are big, though, shredding them by mowing with a reel mower will help them decompose.

Sounds like "yummy" compost: coffee grounds, pecan leaves, some newspaper. Pretty good!

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[rot]

A compost pile or bin with massive heaps of coffee grounds will tend to smother because the coffee grounds will just fill up all the air pockets you might otherwise have. A bin or pile with massive heaps of paper will wad up even with a lot of labor put in to turning. Lots of paper and coffee grounds is just asking for things to go anaerobic. A pile or bin without a diversity of elements will not return a great diversity of nutrients to the soil.

Sticks and twigs will take forever to break down but they will help support air pockets to help your pile or bin breath. Vegetarian kitchen scraps will help provide a diversity of ingredients. Leaves, pecan or otherwise, will diversify your ingredients more. Pine needles will break down slowly unless you can break them some how like with a mower but more different nutrients will come with those. Don't worry so much about the acid levels of things like pine needles because the composting process will mitigate pH effects.

A far better use of coffee grounds I think is just mulch. Pound for pound, coffee grounds will be absorbed into the ground as quickly as compost and worms dig coffee grounds. An inch layer of coffee grounds will crust up nicely and keep moisture in. The problem is that a layer of coffee grounds will crust up nicely and make it difficult for water to penetrate too. My workaround has been to spread the coffee grounds on beds and then cover with grass clippings on top of that. The grass clipping mulch will keep the coffee grounds from crusting over and the worms will do their job coming up for coffee grounds and going back down again moving soil up and coffee grounds down.

On my slow bins I will cap the bin with a good layer of coffee grounds after I've stopped feeding the bin with ingredients. I then have to water carefully to let the water soak in instead of running off if I water too quickly. It keeps everything under the coffee ground layer moist and if the grounds never break down I don't care because I'll just spread the grounds around as I spread the compost.

I've spread thousands of pounds of coffee grounds by now on our dry clay soil and it just takes it in over time. I'm just playing a slow game of putting as many organics into our soil as I can.

[ndorfinmachine]

Sounds like "yummy" compost:

That big bag of coffee grounds I got from Starbuck's today sure did smell yummy on the ride home.....and I don't even drink coffee.

[smokensqueal]

mdorfinmachine, If you have any leaves be it oak or pine that's doesn't matter. Like rot said the more stuff you have the better. Even if it does have sticks and stuff in it. I've never used coffee grounds straight on the ground but I've heard others do that. I don't have that many so I use them just in my compost to keep things warm/hot. But ya if you don't have a LOT of browns be it paper, leaves and even some stick the coffee grounds will take a lot of work to keep from getting to dense and closing up all the air pockets. Be it that it's Halloween time you may just want to ask the neighbors or even some businesses if you can have their straw bales and corn stalks when they are done with them. Those would work good with your coffee grounds.

[astevn816]

I just started a new compost pile that is made up of sunflower seed shells, banana peels and coffee grounds. With a healthy amount of crumpled leaves is all I have available for brown material. There is also a little bit of soil added for the microbes. I am hoping that the leaves will be course enough to add in aeration.

[eadunphy]

Here's another thought - Coffee grounds are slightly acidic. Gently scratch in a few handfuls around your acid-loving azaleas and rhodys and blueberries, if you have them that is!